Cliff Pennington - Baseball Coach - Texas A&M Athletics

Cliff Pennington

Title:
Assistant Coach

Head coach Michael Earley announced the addition of Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame member and 11-year MLB veteran Cliff Pennington to the baseball staff as an assistant coach.

Pennington returns to Aggieland where he lettered from 2003-05, earning All-Big 12 honors all three seasons, as well as being named an All-American in 2005. He was also a member of the Texas A&M coaching staff during the 2020 and 2021 campaigns.

"We are thrilled to welcome Coach Pennington and his beautiful family back to Bryan-College Station," said Earley. "I wanted to find the best infield and base running coach in the nation and after many talks with Cliff, it was evident he was the guy and a perfect fit into our culture. He is a top-notch baseball coach and that is proven by his work. His values, character and determination are off the charts. He's going to help take our team to the next level and I couldn't be more excited to work beside him."

Over the last four seasons, Pennington has served as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Dallas Baptist where he has helped the Patriots to a 167-73-1 (.695) record, four NCAA Regional appearances and two Conference USA regular season titles. During his time with the Patriots, he helped develop three All-Americans in Grant Jay, Ryan Johnson and Ethan Mann, along with three conference Freshman of the Year honorees in Luke Heefner (2022), Jay (2023) and Luke Pettitte (2024).

Pennington played a pivotal role in shaping a powerful DBU offense during the 2024 campaign as it ranked inside the top 25 in home runs (115), slugging percentage (.542), doubles (134) and hits (625). He also helped guide the Patriot defense to a .982 fielding percentage, which ranked fourth nationally, and a nation-leading 56 double plays.

In 2025, the Patriots ranked inside the top 20 nationally in doubles (129), homers (100), slugging percentage (.527) and fielding percentage (.979). On the basepaths, Pennington's work has been evident as DBU swiped 412 bases in his four seasons.

Among the Texas A&M record book, Pennington ranks in the top 10 in hits (246), triples (10) and stolen bases (53). In 182 career games for the Maroon & White, he posted a .346 career batting average.

In his final season in Aggieland, Pennington hit .363 with 44 runs, 13 doubles, four triples, seven home runs, 39 RBI and 29 stolen bases. Baseball America named him to the All-America Third Team as a shortstop and he earned All-Big 12 First Team distinction.

Following the 2005 campaign, Pennington was selected in the first round of the 2005 MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics with the 21st overall pick. He played for five teams during his MLB career from 2008-18. Pennington made his Major League debut with Oakland on August 12, 2008, and played five seasons with the A's. He also saw time with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Angels and Cincinnati Reds.

The Corpus Christi, Texas, native finished his MLB career with 678 hits, 121 doubles, 21 triples, 36 home runs, 242 RBI and 84 stolen bases in 971 games. He also made two postseason appearances, one with the A's in 2012 and the other with the Blue Jays in 2015.

Pennington's finest seasons came between 2010 and 2012. In 2010, he played 156 games, logging 64 runs, 26 doubles, eight triples, six home runs, 46 RBI and 29 stolen bases. The next year, he batted .264 with 26 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 58 RBI and 14 steals.

Pennington also holds the distinction of being the first position player to pitch in an MLB playoff game, flashing a 91-mph fastball and 79-mph curveball in a relief stint for the Blue Jays in the 2015 American League Championship Series game against the Kansas City Royals.

Cliff and his wife Missy have three children, Brady, Hudson, and Kinsley.